May’s Amusing Tax Convictions

Well, last month was certainly a busy one, but it’s interesting to note that, despite the many convictions in the last few months of plenty of unscrupulous preparers, there’s still plenty of deceit to go around.  In Utah, Ashley James Robinson, of Farmington, pleaded guilty to filing false returns and not claiming roughly $1,16 million in income.  His actions caused a tax loss of over $400,000, and he is scheduled to be sentenced later this month, which is expected to be multiple years in prison, a period of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties.

A Hawaii couple conspired with another individual to not only misstate income on a 1040X, but also, to actively thwart the IRS’ efforts to recover the fraudulently obtained refund, including depositing the refund check into a bank account in the name of a trust they created to conceal the refund and by paying the coconspirator $73,500. Michael and Brigida Chock each face a maximum penalty of five years in prison, a period of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

It just wouldn’t be our normal newsletter if there weren’t shady preparers doing illegal things, so with that in mind, let’s head to south Texas to talk about a group of Texas tax return preparers who are on their way to prison. 

According to court documents, between 2012 and 2017, Labanda Loyd, Deidra Brandon, Shaterian Parr, Jaleesia Sais, and Lashamekwa Alexander worked as return preparers at two firms in Waco.  Together, they conspired to prepare and file tax returns that fraudulently claimed refunds their clients were not entitled to receive. Throughout this time, the group used multiple tactics to inflate refunds and create deductions, and the conspirators caused a tax loss exceeding $1.8 million.  The entire group has been sentenced to varying prison time up to 51 months and/or probationary terms, and all were each ordered to pay $918,396 in restitution to the United States.

Sincerely,

Comments are closed.